A whole new meaning to Grasping Bird’s Tail at the Southwest Regional Intensive

Our car was abuzz with excitement. I’ll bet the roads in all directions across Southwestern Ontario were the same. Rehashing, reviewing, remembering the tons of information gifted to us at the Intensive. It took place on Monday november 15th in Stratford at our Southwest Region Centre and led by Nicole Morency, a long time participant and member of the Toronto Branch Council.

Chanting and a potluck dinner preceded the intensive. Oh, what a dinner it was! At the intensive there were 77 participants, raising $1555.00 for the new, warm weather Centre in Dunedin, Fla. Or should I say our cold weather Centre?

In true form to our organization, Nicole presented us with a banquet table of choices from her own dedicated experience with senior instructors.

She gave us things to work on now and things to save for another time. A bit of this, a bit of that.

The main theme for the evening was the palms, wrists and fingers and how they connect to the rest of the body. We played with the connection to our elbows, to our hips and feet; We explored what it means to centre ourselves and, by doing so, become straight and tall. Grasping that birds tail took on a whole new meaning once again!

I think we all felt things in our tai chi that we could further explore whether at home in our own practice or in our classes. People at every level benefitted from the evening, including the three beginner students from the Guelph location.

Nicole introduced the leaders of the Southwest Ontario locations and asked them to stand at the front of the group during the intensive.

The talking piece included stories about Mr. Moy and the culture of the organization; The importance of understanding the connection between our individual locations and the whole. We could help more if we understood that they are not “our” locations or “our” classes, but we are all working together. A discussion about leadership was also part of the evening. How should we look at building our councils/committees and what should we look for in those we are considering for leadership?

It was an evening of balance: The health restoring wonderful exercise, the helpful talks and stories and the group effort in putting the evening together. Back together again on December 6, for a Southwest Area instructors’ meeting.